Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which is divided between three London Boroughs, Brent, Camden, and a small part in Westminster. The main thoroughfare running northwest-southeast is Kilburn High Road, part of the modern A5 road which forms the boundary between the boroughs of Brent and Camden. The road dates back to pre-Roman times and is part of the Roman road known as Watling Street. The town of Kilburn has its origins in a 12th century priory on the banks of the Kilburn Brook. Kilburn today is a busy London district which is strongly associated with its dominant Irish Catholic residents and Afro-Caribbean population and culture; giving it the highest Irish population of any London area. However, it has also become very multicultural of late. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.

History

Kilburn High Road originated as an ancient trackway, part of a Celtic route between the settlements now known as Canterbury and St Albans. Under Roman rule, the route was paved. In Anglo-Saxon times the road became known as Watling Street.



Kilburn grew up on the banks of a stream which has been known variously as Cuneburna, Kelebourne and Cyebourne, which flows from Hampstead down through Hyde Park and into the River Thames. It is suggested the name means either Royal River or Cattle River ('Bourne' being an Anglo-Saxon word for 'river'). The river is known today as the River Westbourne. From the 1850s it was piped underground and is now one of London's many underground rivers.

The name Kilburn was first recorded in 1134 as Cuneburna, referring to a priory which had been built on the site of the cell of a hermit known as Godwyn.Godwyn had built his hermitage by the Kilburn river during the reign of Henry I, and both his hermitage and the priory took their name from the river. Kilburn Priory was a community of Augustinian canonesses. It was founded in 1134 at the Kilburn river crossing on Watling Street (the modern-day junction of Kilburn High Road and Belsize Road). Kilburn Priory's position on Watling Street meant that it became a popular resting point for pilgrims heading for the shrines at St Albans and Willesden. The Priory was dissolved in 1536 by Henry VIII, and nothing remains of it today.

The priory lands included a mansion and a hostium (a guesthouse), which may have been the origin of the Red Lion pub, thought to have been founded in 1444. Opposite, the Bell Inn was opened around 1600, on the site of the old mansion.

The fashion for taking 'medicinal waters' in the 18th century came to Kilburn when a well of chalybeate waters (water impregnated with iron) was discovered near the Bell Inn in 1714. In an attempt to compete with the nearby Hampstead Well, gardens and a 'great room' were opened to promote the well, and its waters were promoted in journals of the day as cure for 'stomach ailments':

In the 19th century the wells declined, but the Kilburn Wells remained popular as a tea garden. The Bell was demolished and rebuilt in 1863, the building which stands there today.

The Kilburn stretch of Watling Street, now called Edgware Road and Kilburn High Road, was gradually built up with inns and farm houses. However, despite the discovery of a medicinal well in 1714, and the creation of gardens and a fine room to exploit the water, Kilburn did not attract any significant building until around 1819 in the area near St John's Wood.

Demographics

Kilburn has a number of different ethnic groups, including people of Irish, Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Somali backgrounds. Because the area is split between more than one London borough, statistics are gathered from different parts of Kilburn.

The Kilburn area is most strongly associated with its Irish and Afro-Caribbean populations and cultures; 13% of the population were born in Ireland with an even higher percentage of Irish descent, giving it the highest Irish population of any London area. The Irish presence is evident in Irish community activities, Irish pubs (many of which attract custom by screening Gaelic games), local GAA sports clubs, newsagents selling a wide range of Irish newspapers, and the annual St Patrick's Day celebrations in the area. Kilburn's Irish connections have earned it the nicknames "Little Éire", and "County Kilburn".

The 2007 Irish-language film Kings has also been associated with Kilburn and is based on Jimmy Murphy's play The Kings of the Kilburn High Road.

Landmarks

Kilburn High Road

Kilburn High Road is the main road in Kilburn. It follows a part of the line of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling Street. This was based on an earlier Celtic route from Verlamion to Durovernum Cantiacorum, modern day St Albans and Canterbury.

Running roughly north-west to south-east, it forms the boundary between the London boroughs of Camden (to the east) and Brent (to the west). It is a section of the Edgware Road (which is in turn part of Watling Street), between Shoot Up Hill and Maida Vale.

There are four railway stations in Kilburn High Road: Kilburn tube station (Jubilee Line) at its northern end, then Brondesbury station (London Overground, on the North London Line), shortly south of this. Approximately 1.25 km (nearly a mile) further south is Kilburn High Road station (also London Overground, on the Watford DC Line). There is also Kilburn Park tube station, on the Bakerloo Line, which is just off the High Road and very close to the High Road station.

The green space of Kilburn Grange Park is located to the east side of Kilburn High Road.

Gaumont State Cinema

A notable landmark in Kilburn High Road is the Grade II* listed Art Deco Gaumont State Cinema, designed by George Coles and opened in 1937. It was then the biggest auditorium in Europe, with seating for 4,004 people. For the past 20 years, the building has been run as a bingo hall by Mecca Bingo. However, the bingo hall has now closed, and the building and surrounding site have been put up for sale. The building is now owned by Ruach Ministries, a fast-growing Evangelical church led by Bishop John Anthony Francis and Co-Pastor Penny Francis.

The Tricycle Theatre

In 1980 the Tricycle Theatre was opened in a converted Forester's Hall in Buckley Road. The Tricycle is a renowned arts centre, including a gallery, cinema and theatre, located in the High Road. In the mid-2000s the centre achieved some fame for its theatrical staging of politically significant court cases, and for a production about the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which subsequently transferred to the West End, and in due course to New York City. Reflecting the cutlturally diverse local community of Kilburn, the Tricycle theatre presents many international pieces and films, usually in original language with English subtitles. As an institution the Tricycle furthermore supports different social including educational programmes.

Other buildings

To the south, the Kilburn skyline is dominated by the Gothic spire of St. Augustine's, Kilburn. Completed in 1880 by the architect John Loughborough Pearson, the church has an ornate Victorian interior, a carved stone reredos and screen and stained glass, adjacent to its partners, St Augustine's Primary and Secondary School. The church is sometimes nicknamed "the Cathedral of North London" due to its size - at the time of construction, it was the third-largest place of worship in London, after St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.

Location in context

Transport

Nearest tube stations

• Kilburn tube station (Jubilee line)
• Kilburn Park tube station (Bakerloo line)
• Queen's Park station (Bakerloo line)

Nearest railway stations

• Brondesbury railway station (London Overground)
• Kilburn High Road railway station (London Overground)

Bus services

Kilburn is served by many bus routes that go along the High Road. Most routes come south from Cricklewood, and serve various points in central and west London.

Sport

• Kilburn is the home of Kilburn Gaels Hurling Club.
• Kilburn is also home to Kilburn Cosmos RFC, one of the few rugby clubs in inner London.
• South Kilburn Football Club play in the Hellenic Football league and will be pushing for promotion in the 2009/2010 season.
• One of the 12 founder members of the Football Association was formed in Kilburn in 1863. It was referred to as the N.N. Club or N.N. Kilburn, "N.N." being thought to stand for "Non Name". It supplied the first president of the Football Association.

Notable residents

• Zadie Smith
• Annie Mac
• David Mitchell
• Robert Webb
• Gavin Rossdale
• Kate Moss
• Lily Allen
• Andrew Sachs
• Edwyn Collins
• David Winner
• Russell Simpson
• Tommy Sparks

References

External links

• Tourist information
• The Tricycle
• Kilburn Cosmos RFC
• History of Kilburn's Theatres With Original Programmes.
• The Gaumont State Cinema organ (Cinema Organ Society)